5 Year-End Tax Planning Tips for Business Owners

December is the month that many business owners spend extra time winding down the year and planning for the new year. Here are five year-end tax planning tips to prepare your business for 2014:

Review subcontractor information. If you paid any subcontractor more than $600 during 2013, you are required to send each subcontractor a Form 1099 by Jan. 31, 2014. Now is the time to review your files to ensure you have the right address, federal tax ID number or Social Security number for those independent contractors.

Year-end expense account catch-up. If your company operates as a corporation, you and your employees need to receive reimbursement for any 2013 expenses by Dec. 31 to ensure the corporation will receive the tax deduction for these business expenses.

Review personal expenses. If your company operates as a sole proprietorship or partnership, you should review all your personal expenses to see if any have been co-mingled with business expenses. If so, record those expenses to your business books.

Review your financial condition. Evaluate your balance sheet and general ledger to be sure all transactions have been recorded, and check the accuracy of accounts payable and accounts receivable. Write off any bad customer debt that you have been unable to collect.

Schedule a tax planning session. If there were any notable changes to your profit situation in 2013, you should schedule a tax review to help you find ways to reduce your taxable income. Call a Creative Business Lawyer today to schedule your comprehensive LIFT™ (legal, insurance, financial and tax) Foundation Audit. They can help you implement last minute tax strategies for 2013 and help you plan for 2014 with advanced business asset protection tactics.